SPENCER Barry
and Rae Ann Lorenz keep getting psyched for their trial in Kentucky, but they
keep getting shot down by continuances.
Itıs been almost nine months since a Kentucky Department of Motor Vehicles
officer, pulled over the Lorenzes, who were driving a Tri-Max tanker on the
interstate in Shelby County. The officer pepper sprayed Barry, handcuffed both
of them and put them in Shelby County Jail for a night.
Most recently, their jury trial in Shelby County Civil Court was supposed to be
Nov. 17, but officials postponed it for the fourth time, with a new date set
only as sometime in February.
Barry Lorenz has been insisting on a jury trial because of the way they were
treated. Originally, Rae Ann was charged with refusing an inspection and
holding the left lane, and he faced charges of refusing an inspection and
resisting arrest. If found guilty, Barry Lorenz could have been put in prison
and Rae Ann Lorenz would have lost her license for a year.
The state of Kentucky offered a plea bargain with
reduced charges, which the Lorenzes rejected because, as Rae Ann put it, "It
would have been on my record and I donıt feel I am guilty of anything."
In the latest continuance, the Lorenzes say the
state offered to drop all charges except holding the left lane against Rae Ann
and interfering with a police officer against Barry. "We told the lawyer no
deal," Barry said.
Lawyer Gilmore Dutton wanted the Lorenzes to take
the deal, they said, but an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer in Kentucky
told them not to, because if they plead guilty to anything at all, it would void
a civil case.
Barry Lorenz said Dutton has told them he does
not want any more publicity on the case. Lorenz claims Dutton told him that the
truth doesnıt matter, just the perception of the truth, and he thinks Dutton
has sold them out.
Since the latest continuance, Barryıs daughter,
Tricia Creecy, has sent another flood of e-mail messages to truckersı magazines
and Kentucky television stations. The Lorenzes are thinking of finding another
lawyer, one not from Shelbyville.
Earlier e-mail messages from Creecy resulted in
an internal investigation of the Department of Motor Vehicle officer, which is
still open.
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